Chapter 384: The Great Desert of Augure (Two in One! Please subscribe!)

Will Roche did not keep the secret any longer. He moved his mouth and said a number very directly and affirmatively...a number that even made Bruno's eyes freeze slightly.

"Why are there so many?!"

Bruno was surprised and said, "If what you said is true, then the Church of Light spends almost one-third of the tithes it collects every year on the Auguste region?!"

“That’s right!”

Will Roche nodded seriously: "You may not have much impression of that land, but as a former Crusader, I know very well... the amount of food and fodder supplies that the church sends to the desert in the August area every year has reached an incredible level! "I have never been sensitive to these figures before, but since I was valued by you and appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Doctrine of the World, I began to look through the accounts and check the income and expenditure, so... it was not until a few days ago that I suddenly realized that there were many doubts about the layout of the Church of Light in the August area..." As he spoke, Will Roche could not help revealing a trace of shame.

In his opinion, if he had realized this earlier, perhaps he could have reminded Bruno this morning, allowing the Principality of Idar and Protestantism to explore the secrets hidden in the August region earlier.

"It's not too late to say it now..."

Bruno naturally saw the expression on Will Roche's face and said seriously:

"This information is extremely important for the development of Protestantism and for the current Principality of Idar! Whenever you think of anything related to the Church of Light, you can report it directly to me!"

"clear!"

Hearing this, Will Roach nodded quickly.

As Will Roche learned more about the Principality of Idar and Protestantism, his sense of belonging to this land became stronger.

Although Bruno exercised extremely strict control over the spread and development of Protestantism, it was also because of this that Protestantism lacked a lot of complicated trivialities.

This did weaken the authority and autonomy of Protestantism, but it enabled people like Will Roach, who had sincere faith in Protestant doctrines, to fulfill their mission in a purer environment.

And this is actually exactly what Protestant believers expect.

…

After describing the situation in the August area in detail to Bruno, Will Roche left with Mike, but... Bruno fell into deep thought.

Even if you use your toes to think about it, you can understand that such a large amount of money and grain cannot be used for missionary work and whitewashing the people.

Because...if they wanted to preach and cleanse the land, why would they choose the Ogurreth region? Even if the eastern part of the empire where the Principality of Idar was located was remote and desolate, wasn't it much better than the Ogurreth region, which was full of yellow sand and had been in constant war? What's more...

Even Will Roche, who was once the head of the Crusaders, didn't know when the Church of Light started to invest money and food in the Auguste area! After hundreds of years of investment, the Auguste area is still in a bad state, and the situation in the Auguste area is even getting worse!

Even if the cardinal's nose, which had been crooked by the people of Idar, was straightened out immediately, Bruno, as the Duke of Idar, would never believe the explanation given by the Church of Light.

Still want to feel the care of the God of Light? Ugh!

and……

Most importantly, as a noble, although Bruno did not know the exact amount of tithe collected by the Church of Light every year, he could calculate a rough amount based on his mathematical calculations and his understanding of the various noble territories of this era.

According to Will Roach's description, the Church of Light will invest about one-third of the total tithe into the Auguste region.

That's a tithe!

You should know that the tithes collected by the church are different from ordinary taxes.

Not to mention the Norman Empire, even the people of the Kingdom of Basel and the Principality of Sidon had to pay taxes to the Church of Light in the holy city of Bethlehem!

This means that, except for the pagans of the Odin Empire, no matter whether you are a believer of the Church of Light or not, as long as you live on this continent, you will be forced to pay a "tenth" tax or fodder!

Emphasize the point! The scope of tax collection covers the entire continent except the Odin Empire! Even in this era of backward small peasant economy and extremely low productivity, this is a wealth that can even be equivalent to a country's annual tax! Moreover, this does not include the tribute that the Principality of Sidon, which has an extremely sincere faith in the church, pays to the Church of Light every year! But such a large amount of money and food was all thrown by the Church of Light into the chaotic August region? ! Even Bruno, a time traveler, couldn't help but feel a little incredible and even shocked when he first heard Will Roche's words.

"Mondel!" Bruno suddenly shouted.

"Your Excellency the Duke, do you have any instructions?" Hearing this, Mundell quickly opened the door and walked in.

"You go to the Idar CIA and tell Claire in person to send people to the Augures region to thoroughly investigate everything the Church of Light has done in that land! Also, be sure to send experienced operators!" Bruno said in a deep voice.

"clear!"

…

Auguste region.

The reason why this land located at the junction of three countries is called the Ogurre region is ultimately because of the Ogurre Desert located in the northeast of the Principality of Sidon.

As the second largest desert on the entire continent, the Okure Desert does not have a clear concept of seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Yellow sand all over the sky, flying stones and dust, this is the normal situation in this land.

Coupled with the brutal bandits and criminals from various countries who fled to this land, the Auguste region has become a place that almost every merchant traveler is afraid to avoid.

It is for this reason that the southwestern part of the Augures region, those lands located in the Augures Desert, have always been sparsely populated, even comparable to the Warcraft Forest.

so……

Whether they are robbers or murderers, whether they are people who were unfortunately born here or criminals who were exiled here, most of them live on the plains in the northeast of the August region.

These vicious bandits acted recklessly in this lawless land, causing countless killings and tragedies.

only……

The church doesn't care about this.

…

The sky was filled with yellow sand and the wind was howling.

Compared with other desert areas on this continent, perhaps due to the unique geographical environment and monsoon climate, the windy season in the Ogur Desert often arrives earlier.

Therefore, when the people of the Principality of Idar were immersed in the joy of the harvest brought by the golden autumn of October, the Ogure Desert finally ushered in the second half of the wind season.

In the desert, the windy season is often considered the most dangerous time.

But,

In this endless desert, a group of figures are looming under the cover of wind and sand.

This is a camel caravan.

There were a total of forty or fifty camels in the team.

In this desert, such a team can actually be regarded as an extremely rare "large force".

Generally speaking, when traveling through the desert, the number of camels in the team must be greater than the total number of people in the team.

In addition to serving as mounts, camels often carry large amounts of luggage and drinking water, providing logistical support for teams traveling through the desert.

only……

The camel caravan marching in the wind and sand before us was obviously different from an ordinary caravan.

In addition to those figures riding on camels, there seemed to be quite a few human figures at the end of the team, stumbling forward along with the camel caravan in the endless sea of ​​sand.

“Bang…Bang…”

This is the sound of shackles and chains colliding with each other in the wind.

The people following the camel caravan were obviously captives of this team. They walked barefoot, struggling on the sand, and slowly moved forward dragging heavy shackles.

They wanted to stop and rest, but... the other end of the chain was tied to the camel in front.

If someone is physically exhausted and cannot keep up with the team, the only possibility is that he will be abandoned in this sparsely populated desert to fend for himself.

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so……

Although they didn't know what was waiting for them, the instinct for survival still supported them and they followed the camel caravan and marched forward with difficulty.

Trails of blood extended from the broken wounds on their bodies to the soles of their feet, and they also left a trail of blood behind them.

but……

In this vast desert, these traces of human footsteps will be obliterated by wind and sand in almost the blink of an eye.

Their throats were dry, but the amount of drinking water they were given each day was so little that they felt dizzy and staggered when they walked.

“Damn you guys! Hurry up and leave! Only those who can make it to the end can experience the care of the God of Light and receive God’s salvation!”

In the camel caravan, a man gulped down a big gulp of water to moisten his throat, then turned around and shouted loudly to the exhausted people behind him.

Although most of these guys riding on camels were wrapped in white robes to protect themselves from the flying dust, the pale golden cross worn on their chests revealed their identity as Crusader soldiers.

That’s right, they…are all Crusaders affiliated with the Church of Light.

He rode on a camel and had plenty of time to drink water and rest, but he scolded the shackled walkers for their slow progress.

Although this seems a bit ridiculous, the large-scale double standard scene in front of us has been generally agreed by the vast majority of the Crusader soldiers:

"If you don't go through untold hardships, how can you possibly gain the favor of the God of Light? You damned unbelievers, stupid sinners! Without the mercy of the church, how can you possibly be reborn?!"

As he spoke, a Crusader soldier took out a whip from his hand at some point and hit a "criminal" in shackles with it.

All that was heard was a sudden groan from the man, and then he fell heavily to the ground in the sand, never to get up again.

Obviously, that person's physical condition had reached the limit of what he could endure.

Seeing this, those ordinary people who were called "criminals" all showed expressions of fear and dared not make a sound.

They are not the vicious bandits living in the August area, but the most ordinary civilians. Not only can they survive with difficulty in this extremely chaotic land, but they also have to constantly fear the plunder and invasion of bandits and robbers from other forces.

They also wanted to leave, but... they couldn't leave at all.

Because... no matter how vicious the robbers and bandits are, they still need to eat, drink, defecate and urinate.

As carriages and horses on the continent were circling around, powerful bandit gangs began to fight for territory, and under each force, there were many civilians.

These civilians grow food and provide food for specific forces. Therefore, although life is difficult, if they are honest and obedient, they can still barely get by.

only……

Just a week ago, all that changed.

Dozens of Crusaders broke into their village brutally, burned their houses, gathered all the villagers together, and put shackles on their hands and feet.

The Crusaders called these civilians "sinners" or... "guilty people."

But here’s the thing…

Muqrin Hafid didn't know why he was guilty, and he never thought he was guilty.

As a young man who was unfortunately born on this land, from the year he was able to work, he began to follow his father in farming and devoted all his energy to cultivating the land.

He had never committed murder or robbery, nor had he ever tried fraud or theft. Muklin Hafid had always been an honest farmer, living a hard life on his own ten-thousand-acre land.

However, the arrival of the Crusaders disrupted his originally peaceful life.

Driven by the Crusaders, they were taken into the desert and struggled to march through the endless desert. According to the Crusaders... this was to allow them to wash away their sins and gain redemption from the God of Light.

In fact, Muqlin Hafid was not interested in such statements at all. If Muqlin Hafid had a choice, he would choose to leave without hesitation.

The temperature in the desert is very changeable.

The day was extremely hot, and the sand, which had been baked by the scorching sun for a long time, was terribly hot. The night was extremely cold, and the howling cold wind was enough to make these thinly dressed civilians faint.

Under the huge temperature difference between day and night, the elderly villagers could no longer bear such torture, and the young villagers were also exhausted.

But……

These Crusaders who always claimed that the God of Light was so merciful had never cared about the feelings of civilians, including Muklin Hafid, and would whip and curse them, or even use weapons at will.

Muklin Hafid saw his friends falling one after another, but as an ordinary person with his hands and feet shackled, Muklin Hafid had long lost the ability to resist.

He could only follow the footsteps of the Crusaders in a daze, relying on his instinct for survival to hold on, hoping that the God of Light, who was highly praised by the Crusaders, would quickly end his so-called "care"...

I haven't done it today. Although I have an outline, I don't dare to write too fast. I don't know how to code it when I look at the outline...

(End of this chapter)